


Fur Will Fly

by janonny



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Cat Tony Stark, Characters turned into animals, Comedy, Crack Treated Seriously, Dog Steve Rogers, Fluff, Humor, M/M, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:20:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22478545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janonny/pseuds/janonny
Summary: Thanos’ minions invades Earth. At this critical juncture, Steve and Tony get turned into a dog and cat respectively.But that isn’t going to stop them from kicking ass.Or from bickering with each other either.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 29
Kudos: 347
Collections: POTS (18+) Stony Stocking 2019





	Fur Will Fly

**Author's Note:**

  * For [coaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coaster/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [coaster](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coaster/pseuds/coaster) in the [stony_stocking_2019](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/stony_stocking_2019) collection. 



> Written for the prompt, " _Accidentally turned into animals: An Avengers mission leaves Steve and Tony (and only them) transformed into [insert animal]s. Despite their rocky relationship, they take the change better than their team mates._ "

Bucky sat on lush green grass, ignoring the goat chewing on the sleeve of his shirt. He held the tablet up so that Steve could see the rest of the goats scattered around the field. 

“You really like the goats, huh?” Steve asked with some amusement. 

“They’re stubborn jackasses constantly picking fights. Reminds me of someone,” Bucky replied solemnly. 

Steve rolled his eyes at that. 

They were having their weekly video call. Bucky was living in Wakanda now, having chosen a peaceful and quiet existence after Shuri had managed to remove the trigger words from his mind. Steve of course was still gallivanting around the world, trying to go where he was needed with Natasha and Sam, even though they were all fugitives from the law. 

Bucky switched the video camera on the tablet to front facing mode so Steve could see him again. 

“Ugh, the goats were a much better sight,” Steve teased. 

Bucky was about to reply with a snide response when he blinked in surprise, peering at something behind Steve. He wondered if he was hallucinating, but just in case he wasn’t... “Uhh, Steve. There’s a guy’s head sticking out from the wall behind you.”

Steve turned immediately and stiffened. “What the hell?”

The guy emerged from the wall, stepping out of what looked like a golden ring that had suddenly appeared in the wall. He seemed to be wearing some kind of blue robe, like a costume from a show. “Hello, Captain America and Captain America’s sidekick. I’m Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme. We don’t have much time to talk. Bruce Banner has come back to Earth with news of a grave threat, and he’s gone to get Tony Stark. I need to get you and your friends back to New York as soon as possible to make preparations.”

Before Steve could say anything, Doctor Strange turned to the tablet Steve was holding, looking at the screen. He addressed Bucky directly, “You’re still in Wakanda, yes? Please tell T’Challa that Wakanda’s help will be needed as well. This is no time for us to be disunited. We’ll need everyone we can muster to save the Earth, possibly to save the entire universe.”

Bucky sighed. Of course a regular video call with Steve would get him mixed up in fighting against a threat to _the whole universe_. Of course. 

# # #

Doctor Strange took Steve, Natasha and Sam ahead to New York through that magic gold ring thing. It was like something straight out of a fantasy novel. Then he had apparently gone to fetch Vision and Wanda, leaving another sorcerer by the name of Wong to convince Wakanda that their involvement was critical. 

Wong came right to Wakanda through another gold ring portal, which resulted in a lot of panic and outrage from the Dora Milaje. After a lot of frantic back and forth, T’Challa agreed to go directly to New York with Wong. Secured, isolated country or not, the end of the universe was sufficient enough of a threat to everyone. Of course, T’Challa was also bringing along Bucky, Shuri and several Dora Milaje, but Wong didn’t seem to care. Time was of the essence to him. 

And it seemed like they had run out of it, despite all the rushing around.

They arrived in New York through a golden portal to a gigantic mess. A really fucking gigantic mess. 

“I was only gone for an hour!” Wong complained bitterly, looking around at the rubble and quiet streets thankfully empty of people. 

In that hour, an alien spaceship had apparently entered Earth above New York and a few aliens had descended to demand the Time stone and the Mind stone. A huge fight had broken out in the streets of New York, which somehow resulted in...whatever the fuck this was.

Bucky stared. “I don’t understand.”

“Just accept it. This kind of thing just happens now,” Natasha said with a sigh. 

“So the alien was some kind of sorcerer as well and he did this to them?” Bucky asked, for the third time. 

Natasha made a face and explained, “The two of them kept bickering so I think the alien sorcerer was offended that they weren’t taking him seriously enough.”

Why did it not surprise Bucky at all that they were both still bickering in the face of an alien invasion? Bucky had told Steve a dozen times over to stop moping around the planet while gazing longingly at newsfeeds of Tony, and just call the guy up already. Clear the air, sort things out over the phone. But no, Steve was all, “You don’t understand, Bucky. It isn’t so simple, Bucky. And oh, isn’t Tony so handsome, I hope he’s getting enough sleep, blah blah blah.”

So of course they ended up meeting again in the middle of a universe-saving battle and _of course_ they still couldn’t stop bickering. 

Which is how they ended up being turned into a dog and a cat by an offended alien sorcerer. 

What the hell was his life that this was a valid sentence? 

Bucky stared at the cat and dog in the middle of the street. The cat was a black cat with white paws and a white chest. He had a white face except for black markings above his mouth that made it look like he had a moustache. Bucky wished he could sneak a photo because that cat just looked ridiculously cute. There was also a round glowing blue light sitting in the middle of his fluffy white chest. The cat was currently hissing at the large dog beside him, hackles raised. 

The rather big dog had long golden fur and floppy ears, with a very fluffy tail. That tail was tucked primly around the dog’s paws as he sat there, the picture of an alert dog. He also had a very familiar shield strapped to his back. But even if he didn’t have the shield, there was something very Steve-like about the way he was sitting. Maybe he was just radiating patriotism even as a dog. After a few seconds, the dog started barking at the cat, short sharp barks, as if snapping in response to the hissing. 

“They’re still bickering,” Bucky pointed out, amazed. 

“Yep. Being furry and four legged isn’t going to stop their bickering,” Sam said with a grin. “And that alien dude was so shocked that they didn’t stop fighting him either, even after he transformed them.”

Bucky’s eyebrows went up. “They still fought him?”

“Yeah, and they won,” Sam said in a wondering tone. 

“It was partially from surprise,” Natasha explained, but she looked proud of her team’s destructive capabilities in all forms. “I don’t think he expected Tony to still be able to use his nanites in cat form. And for Steve to still be able to smash things with his shield.”

“And getting a face full of angry cat clawing at him, and a dog with superstrength biting the back of his neck was so distracting that Vision and Wanda took him down pretty quickly after that,” Sam said with a chuckle. 

Bucky shook his head. Tony and Steve were a pair alright. 

Doctor Strange strode over. “We’ve secured the aliens, but the threat isn’t over yet.”

Of course it wasn’t. 

“How are we going to turn them back?” Bucky asked what was clearly the most important question. 

Doctor Strange waved his hand. “I’m sure it’s doable and we’ve put some people on researching this, but we don’t have time to make it a priority. We need to prepare for Thanos.”

“Who the hell is Thanos?” Bucky asked, bluntly. 

“The Mad Titan,” Doctor Strange said, sounding grim. 

Bucky frowned. 

That didn’t explain anything at all.

# # #

After Doctor Strange explained the situation involving Thanos, there were a lot of discussions around what to do. Bucky mostly kept out of it, uninterested and feeling like he didn’t have enough grasp on the situation to comment. 

Instead, he was stuck watching over Steve and Tony. Not being able to speak and not having opposable thumbs, someone needed to be with them to try to help when possible and, although this was left unsaid, to keep them out of trouble.

So while everyone else was arguing while calling it strategizing, Bucky sat on the steps of the New York Sanctum, watching as Steve and Tony interacted. 

Tony was clearly a curious cat, sticking to the walls as he sniffed and investigated the hall. He got on his hind legs to sniff at a stand holding a small urn, tail arched up behind him like a question mark. Much to Bucky’s surprise, Tony suddenly leapt up onto the stand, precariously balanced with the little space available on it. He bent his head to sniff at the little urn when Steve suddenly started barking loudly, his loud deep ‘woofs’ echoing in the hall. Tony looked like he was going to ignore him, but Steve padded nearer to the stand and barked more urgently. 

Turning his head, Tony lifted a paw towards the urn, very clearly threatening to knock the urn off onto Steve’s head. Steve’s lips curled up, baring his long teeth as he growled, low and menacing. That didn’t seem to faze Tony at all. He nudged the urn with a paw, earning him more barking. Looking put out, Tony hissed at Steve, although his hackles stayed down this time. This went back and forth for a couple minutes until finally, Tony sat down and licked his paw. Steve quiet down at that. 

When Tony licked and groomed both paws and his side, he finally leapt lightly off the stand to land beside Steve and stalked away, tail swaying behind him in annoyance. 

Steve trotted after Tony only to earn another hiss from him. Not that it was enough to deter Steve. Now, Steve stuck to Tony’s side as they both explored the hall. Bucky watched in amusement as the two pretended to ignore each other while moving around the hall at each other’s side. Occasionally, Tony’s curiosity seemed to get the better of him and he would move to explore in more detail, wanting to stick his little face into nooks and crannies. But Steve would let out that loud echoing bark which would make Tony stalk away, looking affronted. 

“The two of you should try to get along since you’re both stuck in the same situation,” Bucky suggested when they walked by him. 

They both gave him a blank look, like he had suggested something completely incomprehensible. 

Then surprisingly, Tony started sniffing around Bucky, even nosing at Bucky’s shoes and shins. Steve tensed at that, watching them closely. Trying to keep his body language relaxed and calm, Bucky was nonetheless prepared to receive a scratch or even a bite, based on how things were the last time he saw Tony. 

But Tony only wandered off after that, treating Bucky as nothing more than interesting furniture. Steve gave Bucky’s hand a slobbery lick before going after Tony, making sure to stick close to him.

Bucky looked at his palm covered in dog drool and wiped it on his pants while making a face. “Thanks, Steve.” What a punk. 

# # #

While Tony and Steve had been poking their noses around the Sanctum’s hall, the discussions finally wrapped up and the decision was to go to Wakanda to try to remove the Mind gem from Vision’s forehead without killing him. Then, they would attempt to destroy the Mind gem, ensuring that Thanos wouldn’t have a full set of Infinity Stones to use the Gauntlet.

So through the portals they went again. It was a little funny to see Tony and Steve in their animal forms, walking through the portal calmly, tails held high like it was everyday that they used portals as animals. 

This time, when discussions were ongoing, Tony and Steve stayed in the room. Shuri was already working on the Mind stone and on Vision, with Wanda in the same room to hold Vision’s hand or something equally sappy. 

Now, Bucky watched as Tony leapt onto the conference table and laid down with his paws tucked neatly under him, resulting in his body resembling a little loaf of black bread. It was too cute and Bucky was finding it hard to reconcile this with Tony Stark. From the way the others kept looking Tony’s way, he wasn’t the only one. 

Tony gave Steve a smug stare from his position on the table, while Steve was forced to stay seated on the floor. Bucky thought he saw Steve rolling his eyes, something he didn’t even know dogs could do. 

After almost an hour of talking strategy and what army they could marshall, Tony got up all of a sudden and sauntered over to T’Challa. The discussions paused as Tony seemed to examine T’Challa, sniffing his hand on the table. 

“Was there something you wanted to add?” T’Challa asked. His expression was calm, like it wasn’t unusual for him to hold conversations with cats. 

Tony didn’t bother to even react to that question. He just lightly stepped off the table onto T’Challa’s lap. Then he circled the lap once, twice, before curling up on it, tail wrapped tight around his body. Resting his head on his paws, Tony closed his golden eyes and seemed to relax.

T’Challa’s eyes were wide. So was everyone else’s as they all stared at the sight of Tony curled up for what seemed to be a nap on the King of Wakanda’s lap. 

After a moment, T’Challa shook his head and just smiled. “I guess cats do what they want,” he commented mildly. 

Natasha muttered, “Cats and _Tony_ do what they want.”

Steve let out a heavy sigh like he was agreeing and then padded over to Sam’s side. He nudged Sam back in his chair before unceremoniously laying his head down on Sam’s lap.

“What the hell, Rogers?” Sam asked in surprise. But he didn’t shake off Steve and Steve also made no signal that he was going to move for a good long while. 

Rolling his eyes, Sam started patting Steve’s head and Steve closed his eyes as if to settle down for a nap as well.

What the hell indeed. 

# # #

While everyone prepared for the upcoming alien invasion, Bucky trailed after Steve and Tony who seemed to be determined to explore Wakanda together. Well, perhaps Tony was determined to explore Wakanda and Steve was determined to stick close to Tony. Bucky stared as Steve and Tony both sat in front of the field of goats, their tails almost touching as they watched the grazing goats. It was surprisingly peaceful as they watched the goats for at least half an hour. 

Then out of nowhere, Tony turned around and swiped a paw over Steve’s side. Bucky wasn’t close enough to see if he had his claws sheathed or not, but he suspected the claws were all out. Steve snapped at Tony, literally, although he didn’t come near to making contact. Tony hissed sharply before stalking away. Steve growled in a grumbling way and went after him. But Tony didn’t hiss or claw him anymore, they just ambled off together. 

Bucky was very, very confused. 

Later, he watched as Steve and Tony amiably ate dinner side-by-side. There were plates on the floor with food made specially for them. They were human food but edible for dogs and cats, since it felt wrong to be feeding Iron Man and Captain America actual cat and dog food straight out of cans. 

“Is it just me or do they seem really unaffected by what happened to them?” Bucky asked, a little plaintive. He felt emotionally drained after a day of shadowing Steve and Tony but the people who should be most affected by the transformation seemed to be taking it completely in stride. 

“It’s not just you. It’s definitely really weird,” Bruce said, staring at them. “I’ve seen Tony get more worked up over a misplaced screwdriver than he has been over being turned into a cat.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen Steve flip out over some really stupid shit but he seems to think it’s fine to be stuck in a furry four legged body,” Bucky observed with not a small amount of confusion.

Bruce nodded, looking puzzled. “And they seem to still be able to communicate. I don’t have any idea what they’re communicating to each other, but there definitely seems to be some level of understanding between them.”

Bucky nodded and asked, “You noticed that too, huh? Do you think they can actually understand each other’s hissing, meowing and barking?”

Rubbing his forehead, Bruce frowned. “I don’t actually know. It’s hard to say with the two of them and it’s not like getting turned into animals is actually scientifically logical in the first place. And with Steve and Tony, they’ve always had this silent communication thing going on as well.”

Bucky wouldn’t know, not having spent enough time around the two of them, but he could believe it from just a day of watching them interact, even though they weren’t even in human bodies. Tony didn’t need to meow for Steve to seem to know when Tony was about to go sniff at something that Steve disapproved of. And Steve didn’t need to bark for Tony to get annoyed at him, which Steve never seemed surprised by, so it was almost like Steve knew what Tony was getting pissy over. 

Before Bucky could voice his opinion, someone said loudly from the entrance.

“I can’t believe no one called me immediately and I had to find out from the army that Tones has been turned into a _cat_.”

It was War Machine’s pilot, James Rhodes, and he looked angry as he strode into the room. 

A black streak dashed past where Bucky and Bruce were standing and suddenly, Tony was climbing up Rhodes’ legs, shimmying up him like he was a tree. Rhodes helped, bending a little before finally scooping him up. Then Tony was in Rhodes’ arms and rubbing his cheeks against Rhodes’ shoulder and chest and wherever he could reach, purring up a storm. 

“You idiot,” Rhodes said, even as he stroked Tony affectionately over his back, shifting to keep hold of Tony’s wriggling body. “How come this kind of shit always happens to you?”

Tony let out a loud outraged ‘MIAOW’ in protest, and then continued to scent mark Rhodes. Laughing, Rhodes rubbed Tony’s cheek with his fingers, which seemed to be enough to appease Tony’s grumpiness because he went limp in Rhodes’ arms. 

Bucky turned to see Steve had abandoned his food as well and had wandered closer, but his ears were drooped and his tail was tucked a little between his legs. Bucky rolled his eyes.

Bending down, Bucky tugged at Steve’s droopy ear until he got that clear blue gaze fixed on him. 

“Don’t be a dumbass,” he said quietly to Steve, which earned him a huff. “Seriously, they’re pals, like you and me. Don’t be weird about it.”

Steve sat down beside Bucky with a low, grumbling growl, but his ears were less droopy and his tail was relaxed by his side now. Bucky gave him a few awkward pats on his head and Steve leaned heavily against his leg. 

It was pretty damn weird to think that he had just patted Steve Rogers, his best friend, on the head. But then, Rhodes and Tony didn’t seem to feel any kind of awkwardness even as they shamelessly cuddled so Bucky had better step up as Steve’s best pal. 

# # #

“Yeah, they’re pretty weird, but it’s Steve and Tony, they’re always pretty weird,” Rhodes said without concern. 

It had been two days since Rhodes had arrived and Steve and Tony’s interactions had evolved to be even stranger in Bucky’s opinion. Rhodes had wandered by and stopped to join Bucky in his contemplation of Steve and Tony. Bucky was still Steve and Tony’s primary babysitter so he had been the one most exposed to their strangeness. 

Now, the two of them had taken to napping together. Right at that moment, Steve was lying on his side, sprawled out against the cool marble floor. Tony was lying on top of Steve’s side, eyes closed but paws kneading continuously into Steve’s thick gold fur. It was very, very cute and they looked extremely comfortable together. Which didn’t really make sense considering how they were still at odds with each other. 

As if to prove Bucky’s point right at that moment, Steve lifted his head up and turned to look at Tony, not making a sound. After a few seconds, Tony opened one golden eye and hissed, glaring at Steve. He dug his claws threateningly into Steve’s thick fur, as if promising to draw blood if he got serious. They stared at each other for a long silent minute. Then, Steve put his head back down on the marble floor with a big sigh and closed his eyes again. After a silent moment, Tony released his clawed grip and relaxed against Steve’s side, continuing his lazy kneading with his paws. A purr started up from deep within Tony’s chest, loud enough for even Bucky and Rhodes to hear it.

“Yep, no idea what the hell that was, but I’m not surprised at all,” Rhodes said with a shrug. He thumped Bucky on his shoulder as he walked by. “Don’t worry about it, they’ll work it out.”

Bucky wasn’t worried about it. It was just...weird. 

# # #

They had completed most of their preparations by the time Thanos arrived, but they still hadn’t managed to restore Tony and Steve to their proper human forms. 

So they had incorporated the cat and dog forms into their plans. 

The Mind stone had been safely removed from Vision without destroying him, and Wanda had in turn destroyed the Mind stone. When Thanos made his grand entrance on the Wakandan battlefield, Doctor Strange opened up a portal right over Thanos’ head and dropped Steve and Tony onto his head. Apparently, even the Mad Titan wasn’t ready for a tornado of a hissing, screeching cat encased in an Iron Man armor and a superpowered dog that took a chomp out of Thanos’ behind, much to everyone’s surprise. 

Thanos was so distracted, turned into a howling mess from his previously composed, vainglorious genocidal self that Vision and Wanda easily restrained him with their powers, in time for Thor to crash down onto him with a gigantic axe. Unceremoniously, Thanos was defeated and dispatched.

Tony and Steve had looked exceptionally proud of themselves, visibly so even as a cat and a dog.

It still took a great deal of force from the superheroes, Wakanda’s army, and the other countries who had sent their armies as well to completely destroy Thanos’ forces, but they managed it in the end. 

The clean up and endless talks afterwards took ten times as long as the actual battle itself. Bucky was ready to retreat back to his hut and sleep for a month after this, but no, he had to follow everyone back to New York, because he was still the official Steve and Tony babysitter and they needed to be in New York while Doctor Strange figured out a fix for them. Now that the end of the world was no longer impending, he had the time to focus on restoring Iron Man and Captain America. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to just leave them like this?” Doctor Strange asked. “They seem so much more peaceful this way.”

Surprisingly, Steve and Tony didn’t react to this insult. Steve was lying down, head on his paws and allowing Tony to lick his ears and groom his fur on his head into silly spiky tufts. Was Tony doing that on purpose? Surely Steve should look better after being groomed, not end up looking like a punk dog? 

“I mean, he has a good point,” Sam said with a grin.

But Rhodes shot Doctor Strange a dirty look and only said, “Fix this.”

Sighing, Doctor Strange went to pull out some old dusty tomes. 

It was the work of five intense hours of researching to change them back into their human forms. 

In a blink, they went from cute fluffy animals sitting next to each other, eyeing Doctor Strange warily, to fully clothed Steve Rogers and Tony Stark sitting next to each other, eyeing Doctor Strange warily. There didn’t seem to be any transition in between. One second they were furry and adorable, the next they were less furry and a lot taller, all human again. 

They blinked in confusion. 

Then Steve looked at Tony and Tony hissed under his breath, before coughing and straightening. “I’ve got to...go wash my hair,” Tony announced before making a beeline for the Sanctum’s front door. 

Rhodes and Bruce quickly went after him.

Steve ran a hand through his blonde hair and frowned when he rubbed his fingers together. His hair was still standing up in silly spiky tufts. He said, “I’ve got to...go wash my hair too.”

Then he was out the door as well, Bucky turning to follow. 

From behind, Bucky heard Doctor Strange mutter, “Not even a word of thanks, what douchebags.”

“You fit right in then,” Wong said mildly. 

# # #

Bucky thought this would be the end of Steve and Tony’s strangeness, and that Steve would go back to moping over Tony while not doing a single damn thing over it. 

Except as Bucky went looking for Steve to let him know that Bucky was heading back to Wakanda via the sorcerer’s express, he walked into Steve’s room at the Avengers tower to find Steve and Tony full on making out. 

Their lips were locked, mouths moving with such hunger that they looked like they were about to devour each other. Steve’s hands were cupped around Tony’s cheeks, tilting his head and holding onto him, as if afraid to let go. Which was ridiculous because one of Tony’s hands were digging into Steve’s shoulder, the other clenched in Steve’s hair, so there really was no danger of Tony going anywhere. 

Bucky ducked back behind the open door, glad that they hadn’t noticed him. Before he could sneak away, they broke off their kiss, ragged breathing filling the air instead. 

“We still need to talk,” Steve murmured. 

Tony grumbled, “Must we?”

Bucky’s curiosity got the better of him, and he peeked around the door to see Steve giving Tony a significant look. At that, Tony only said, “Uggghhhh…” and gave Steve a significant look in return. Bucky had no idea what either looks meant, but apparently the message was received because they went back to passionately kissing.

Rolling his eyes, Bucky left and quietly closed the door behind him. 

Maybe it wasn’t Tony as a cat and Steve as a dog being weird. 

Maybe it was just a Tony and Steve thing, as Rhodes had said. They were always going to be weird when they were together, because they were really weird about each other. 

Bucky smiled. Well, as long as they were happy together.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m very, very sorry, Coaster! I have to gift upon you an unbeta-ed fic...because usually you're the one who betas my fic! 😭 Also, I think I was too ambitious making your prompt into an IW-fix-it so it’s a pretty clumsy fic, sorry about that. 😭😭😭
> 
> To everyone who read this, I hope you enjoyed this in some way in any case! 
> 
> Also, please look at [this completely adorable art HT drew for this story](https://hundredthousands-art.tumblr.com/post/615959411598491648/fic-fur-will-fly)!! Thank you, HT, I love it and I'm so amazed you would draw for my fic! <3


End file.
